


Someday

by R_E_R6



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Fluff, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, The One With All The Nicknames
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29655492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_E_R6/pseuds/R_E_R6
Summary: TK is welcomed home to the sight of his boyfriend playing with his little brother after whisking him to their house for the day. Watching them interact, TK is once again reminded of how much he loves seeing Carlos with kids, and how he can't wait for them to have their own someday.Lots of Tiny TK cuteness and Tarlos fluffy future feels.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 26
Kudos: 255





	Someday

TK is confused by the jovial squealing he hears from the other side of his front door when he hops onto the porch step. His keys, which he slots into the lock using muscle memory alone, stop turning with a muted jangle as he pauses in place. 

“Los, let me go!” A little voice calls out, each word separated by a pause as he forms them carefully in that unpracticed way all toddlers do. It’s a little voice TK knows well, and it brings a smile to his face, even as his confusion causes his brow to dip.

Carlos fakes a gasp and gestures to the door as TK swings it open. He is instantly amused upon seeing the pair on the floor surrounded by toys, with his baby brother having just been released from his boyfriend’s arms. Seeing the dragon’s scattered between their legs, there’s no doubt that they’d just been engaged in the most serious of battles. “Look who’s home,  Cariño. ” 

“Tee-Tay!” A force, small but unexpectedly mighty, barrels into his legs, knocking him back a step and causing him to grab the doorframe for support. 

“Oof. Hey, Baby Strand,” TK greets with an affectionate grin as he bends to scoop the boy’s small body up onto his hip. Turning to Carlos, he raises an eyebrow before he directs his question to the fidgeting. “What are you doing here, Buddy?”

“Los bring me.” 

“Your parents are redecorating this little monster’s room today, so I took back the rollers we borrowed last month. This one decided he was bored with putting handprints on the walls and wanted to come home to play with me instead.” Carlos clarifies, a stray hand reaching out to wriggle against tiny ribs. Giggles erupt against TK’s ear, while his mini-me squirms closer and almost folds himself over TK’s shoulder in his attempt to escape the tickles. All the while, he’s calling out for Carlos to stop. Carlos relents after a few seconds, allowing TK to readjust his grip as the laughter subsides to make room for breathing air.

“Bad Los.” The boy scolds him with a pointed finger and shoots him the cutest glare, and TK watches as his boyfriend completely melts. It’s not the dejected look his brother was hoping for, he’s sure, but he turns his attention to TK anyway. TK can’t help but squeeze him closer as that little cherub-like face nuzzles into his neck. “Hi.”

“Hi. Have you been having fun with Carlos?” 

“Uh-huh,” he replies, all his previous annoyance with the man apparently gone as his words are now coated in sugary affection. “We learnin’ Span-ol ‘gain.”

TK has to bite back a face-splitting grin at hearing the mispronunciation, though he can’t hide the adoration in his eyes as he looks at Carlos in awed amusement. Seriously, his little brother is too cute for words.

“Eh- Bébé, remember? Escucha -Eh- can you make that sound for me?” Carlos coaxes him gently, gesturing to his ears when he tells him to listen and pointing to his lips when they form the sound. Then, he smiles proudly when it’s echoed back. “Good, now add it all together, just like we practised- Español.”

“Eh-span-ol,” he copies. He once again falls short on the pronunciation of the ‘N’ sound but it’s to be expected --he’s still can’t pronounce every sound in English, after all-- and he still grins proudly when Carlos nods and holds up his hand for a congratulatory high-five. 

“Perfect. You’re so good at this, Bud. Why don’t you tell TK the other word you learned today?” 

“Ooh, there’s more? What else did you learn, Baby Bean?” TK asks, leaning in to place a quick kiss against his brother’s cheek.

Now, without the distraction of TK’s return, he notices the nickname. It earns TK a handful of splayed fingers pressing against his cheek and pushing him away. 

“My not a baby, Tee-Tay. My two.” A pair of tiny laserbeams bore into TK’s eyes, growing closer until their noses are pressed together and strands of fluffy brown hair, the same shade as his own, brush against his forehead. When TK stretches his eyes downwards, he can see that trademark stubborn Strand frown has overtaken his previous pout. “Das big.”

Thoroughly amused by the attempt at intimidation, TK lets out a soft chuckle before blowing a raspberry against his nose. “You’re bigger, but you are still my baby brother, always will be, Little Bean.”

He appears ready to protest but then he catches sight of Carlos, who has just sidled up beside them. In a flash, his face morphs into excitement and he cranes his neck to meet the other man’s eyes.

“My know dat word, Los!” 

TK can’t pinpoint which word he means, but Carlos has no such difficulty and nods his encouragement. 

“That’s right, why don’t you tell your brother?”

“Uh,” his eyes glaze over with determination before drifting to the ceiling, to the floor, and then to Carlos. “I don’t know now.”

TK lets out an “aww” under his breath at the pleading look that the Mini-TK -as he has been appropriately declared by anyone who has ever seen them both- sends his boyfriend. Carlos, predictably, wastes no time before stepping forward to offer help. Between one second and the next, TK finds his arms empty of the familiar weight and he can only watch and wair as Carlos leans in to whisper in his brother’s ear. 

His heart flutters just a little at the sight. Between his brother spending so much time with them, and all of the kids in Carlos’ family, TK has grown used to seeing Carlos cradling small kids gently in his arms. He’d be lying if he said it wasn’t an attractive sight, and he’s definitely thought of what it’d be like to see Carlos holding their own kid. 

It had been a scary thought the first few time it had popped into his head. Before Carlos, he’d never thought about having kids. Well, he’d never let himself think of it if he’s being honest. The idea had always lingered though. It’s always been that hidden desire, sealed away from his consciousness in a place just out of reach. Until Carlos, he hadn’t let himself think about what he’d be like as a father because he was scared of what that picture would look like. Plus, it never seemed right with any of his exes. 

Then suddenly, the thought had crept forward in the middle of a warm Austin day, inching closer and closer to the forefront of his mind with tentative steps until it decided it was safe now. And once the thought was freed, TK hadn’t been able to reign it in. Now it invades his mind all the time, especially in moments like this, and he can no longer deny the certainty that he wants it someday. With how far he’s come, and with Carlos at his side, TK is confident now that it’s something he can have and do well. Someday. For now, though, helping to wrangle his little brother is more than enough practice. 

TK is sure his eyes have glazed over, his expression overpowered by his wistful smile, by the time he’s broken from his thoughts by a quiet string of jumbled syllables. 

“Huh? What was that, Mini-me?” 

All he gets is a giggle in response and a proud grin. TK doesn’t even try to hide the way his own chest puffs out at seeing it. It’s a point of pride to him that his brother adores being compared to him, always following him around and trying to imitate the things he does. It’s like having a second shadow sometimes with the way his brother sticks to his side, and though it can be a little annoying having little feet getting tangled with his own with every step, he can’t help but boast the fact that his brother sees him as someone to look up to. In fact, by the time he’d first started walking, their mother had taken to nicknaming them Copy and Paste, due to the way the latter would paste himself to his side. Of course, the fact that he and TK basically share a face only adds to her reasoning.

“He-man-oh,” he repeats more confidently, and this time TK can pick apart the individual sounds. Regardless, he can’t quite grasp the meaning and he eyes Carlos desperately. 

“That’s right, Little Man, TK’s your  _ brother _ .”

“Oh, that’s great,” TK exclaims when he recognises the hint and pieces it together. With a gentle smile, he leans in closer to the face waiting expectantly for his reaction. “But it’s-- Mph”

TK’s attempt to help correct his brother is thwarted as Carlos swoops in and steals the words from his lip, as well as the breath from his lungs and the thoughts from his mind. Though familiar, the sensation of Carlos’ soft lips delicately prying is own apart never fails to overwhelm him. That’s why, when he finally pulls away, TK blinks up at him owlishly for a few seconds before coming back into his own mind.

“What wa-”

“Don’t”-Carlos leans in again, pecking his lips before continuing his low mumble-“you dare correct him.”

Confused, TK reels back to get a full look at Carlos’ slightly pleading expression before eyeing him sceptically.

“But that’s not how-”

“Shh, please, Baby. It’s too adorable when he says it wrong.”

TK covers his affectionate laugh with a scoff, faking offence. “Oh, I see how it is. When I get it wrong, I get corrected but now suddenly he says it wrong and it’s okay. Clearly, there’s favouritism going on here.”

He ends with a wink to his dinky doppelganger, earning him a poked tongue that TK returns. Carlos rolls his eyes playfully at the childish display and shrugs before placing a kiss on the toddler’s cheeks. 

“Yeah well, it sounds cute when he does it.” At TK’s narrowed eyes, he adds, “And he’s a baby.”

Unable to resist the opportunity he’s been presented with, TK presses himself against his boyfriend’s side with a smirk in his tone, which he masks with a coy smile. Carlos stills when TK’s lips brush the shell of his ear, his head tilting towards TK’s as if lead by an invisible pull between them. 

“But I’m your baby,” TK murmurs flirtatiously, before pressing his face into Carlos’ neck and teasing the skin with his lips. Carlos’ next breath seems to leave with a slight shudder, and TK feels the thrill of triumph shoot through him. 

“You’ll always be my baby,” Carlos agrees without a second of hesitation. It warms TK to the very depths of his soul, feeling every existing tendril of the other man’s ever-growing love for him in those few promised words. His whole future is nestled within those simple words, and TK feels nothing but comfort from that surety. Then, TK’s heart skips a beath when Carlos’ next words drift between them. “Even when we have babies of our own someday.”

Yeah, definitely someday. Looking into Carlos’ warmed-honey eye, that future is all too easy to imagine. 

“Yay!” A gleeful cheer breaches the silence, bringing them back to the present. “Tee-Tay a baby too!”

Carlos’ deep chuckle surround him, hugging him from all sides. Despite the teasing, he knows he’ll endure from this -because he knows there’s no way his brother isn’t going to repeat this to everyone now he’s latched onto another way for them to be the same- TK can’t help but chuckle as he shakes his head in defeat. A little hazing is worth it, he guesses. After all, this miniature version of himself is irresistibly adorable.. 

“Yeah, I guess I am, Baby Strand Numero Dos.”

Seeing the light of a bright future in that smile, TK wonders if their kids will look as much like Carlos as his brother looks like him. Now  _ that _ would be irresistibly adorable.


End file.
